Cordless telephone communication systems generally comprise a plurality of public base stations (also called telepoints) that may be used by any subscribers within range. In the future such public base stations may become as common as public telephones are today. When in range, a subscriber will be able to access the public switched telephone network (PSTN) and place a call. However, registration of a cordless handset into a cordless telephone system presents some problems. There is an expected delay from the time that a customer buys a cordless handset (also known as a portable communication unit, or simply a portable unit) until the customer receives access to the cordless telephone system from the network operator. This delay is generally used for checking the subscriber's credentials such as available credit or other qualifying information. Since the portables store all registration data, there is a need to load this data at a convenient time and location after the credit check is completed. In cellular systems on-line validation is used where a portable may be activated instantly at a central data base.
The generation, delivery, and loading of the registration data is an arduous task. For, example, CT-2 requires the manual entry of up to 67 characters (including all check digits). Reduction or elimination of this manual entry is highly desirable.